Fire at Chicago airport affects flights in, out of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — Flights to and from Chicago's two airports were halted for five hours Friday when authorities said a contract employee deliberately set a fire at a suburban air traffic control center, delaying or cancelling flights in Pittsburgh and across the country.

More than 850 flights were canceled in Chicago, but by late morning flights began taking off and landing again at O'Hare and Midway airports, moving at a reduced rate.

Two Southwest and one United Airlines flights bound for Chicago airports were diverted to Pittsburgh International Airport, said airport spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny.

Morning arrivals and departures associated with Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports were canceled or delayed in Pittsburgh. That meant Michael and Linda Peeler of Greensburg would miss a wedding rehearsal dinner for their niece in Little Rock, Ark.

“There's nothing we can do. It's just the way it is,” 69-year-old Linda Peeler said.

Lori Hayman, 45, of Washington, D.C., and her sister, Jeralyn Smullen, 41, of Baltimore were on a Southwest flight sent to Pittsburgh, weary after a four-hour wait.

“We've been in this airport since 7:30 this morning,” Hayman said.

When she called the Southwest customer service number, a recording warned there would be a three-hour wait to speak to someone, she said.

Southwest employees told people in line in Pittsburgh that anyone going nonstop to Chicago wouldn't get there until Saturday.

“If we don't get there tomorrow, we'll have to cancel our whole trip,” said Sherry Kolbosky, of Greensburg.

She and her husband Robert, owners of Sisters II Bridal shop, planned to go to a bridal tradeshow.

The fire forced the evacuation of the control center in Aurora, about 40 miles west of downtown Chicago. Emergency crews found the man suspected of setting the fire in the basement, where the fire began, with burns and self-inflicted knife wounds, said Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which was taking part in the investigation. The suspect was taken to a hospital.

The man used gasoline as an accelerant, Ahern said. There was fire damage to some wiring and water damage from the sprinkler system.

The FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and police and fire departments were interviewing witnesses and employees.

Management of the airspace was transferred to other facilities, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said. Flights already on approach to Chicago continued at a slower pace.

The shutdown quickly spread travel misery around the country. Online radar images showed a gaping hole in the nation's air traffic map over the upper Midwest.

The Associated Press and Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE contributed to this report.